North of the Border

Day 4- Had Yai-Penang

That morning we woke up early even though there were no specific plan as to what would we be doing for the day! All we knew was that we had to look at the wet market. Down the road and a couple turns later we were there. It is a colossal building perhaps 3 floors high, I didn’t go in to check! Then we parked our car and started walking, looking for something unusual to eat. Blocks after another finally there were the usual noodle stalls. We took our pick and downloaded the food in no time. It was time that we went separate ways. FK and Zen went shopping and I survey the township around the Market.

Business here is done on a grand scale, a good mixture of retail and wholesalers. Had Yai is the only "city" in the 100 kilometers radius. It attracts shoppers from the whole rural hinterland. Then the market also divides itself into essentials and tourist commodities. In the plazas and shopping bazaars, almost every other person I met was a Malaysian who had flock here, attracted by some goods that I am still trying to figure out! "Zebra" stainless steel wares or stuffed toys?

I suppose with the combined crowd, inland as well as foreigners, has kept the whole town buzzing.

After 2 hours, both of them emerged looking for me. We loaded the booty into the car’s boot and walked around again one more time. This time, the vendor selling baked coconut and baked beans got us. Under there the constant pestering, we tried the goods, which I must say was good. We had enough of market and also enough of Thailand. But the last stop, the car accessories shop to compare prices for my roof rack! Not surprised they had every model to suit the various makes of car. Prices were competitive or should I say comparable.

Nothing bought and we headed for the border. But before that "don’t forget the seed pods!"

We crossed the border and again went shopping in the duty free complex for some liquor. The complex looked deserted on weekdays and the choices on display were confined to the more saleable items. So it more like topping up essential needs rather than shopping for something unusual.

From there we headed straight for the Penang Island. It was a time for FK and me to show our familiarity of the local food stalls. The next couple of hours were spending driving from one spot to the next. It was well pass 3.00pm and of course most of them had closed from the morning session or waiting for nightfall. The end results were some good exchanges of information to end the 4 days of traveling together.